Wind Triggers Bite at GNWC Opener on Lake Sharpe
By Steve Weisman
Grand National Walleye Cup Publicity Director
Wind! That’s what the teams competing on the South Dakota Region of the
Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) were looking for at Sunday’s season opener
held on Lake Sharpe, Sunday, April 17. Although it may have gotten a bit too
strong at 25-30 mph out of the southeast, it did trigger the formerly
neutral walleyes into biting.
Capitalizing on the opportunity, the team of Rolfe Behrend from
Brookings, SD and Doug Iverson from Pierre, SD took the $1600 first place
check with a six-fish limit weight of 12.9 pounds.
They were followed by Steve Novotny from Pierre, SD and Roger Novotny
form Ft. Pierre, SD, who took home the second place check of $800 for their
six-fish limit weight of 12.32 pounds.
Third place and a check for $550 went to the team of Mike Fahey from
Pierre, SD and Brad Taylor from Ft. Pierre, SD with six fish weighing 12.16
pounds.
GNWC Tournament Director Greg Liebel noted the closeness of the race
with less than a pound separating the top three teams. “The fish are
definitely here, but the teams kept saying yesterday that they needed some
wind to get the fish to bite. They got their wish and then it was a matter
of finding the key presentation to get them to bite.”
Liebel continued, “I’m really pleased with the number of teams we had
competing. We had a lot of newcomers in the field.”
For the winners, it was a matter of working the fish they knew were
there and then making the correct presentation switch as the bite changed.
Behrend and Iverson began the day fishing jigs and minnows in 12-15 foot of
water about five miles down river along the bluffs. The real key was a very
slow presentation. Then about noon, the jig bite died, and the winners began
pulling #7 perch and firetiger Shad Raps. Their biggest problem was getting
fish to fit under the 18″ length.
The Novotny duo also worked jigs and minnows in 15 foot of water. Again,
slow was the key as they used chartreuse short shank Fireball jigs to
trigger their fish. They also used a simple lift and drop presentation, but
their bite shut down shortly after noon.
Fahey and Taylor also tried jigs and minnows early a couple miles south
of the bluffs. They later turned to #8 blue/silver and black/silver Shad
Raps to catch their fish.
Big Fish honors and $350 in cash went to Richard Ness and Phil Schelhaas
from Ruthton, MN for their 6.01-pound walleye.
The Yo So Close Award, provided by AMFYOYO, manufacturer of the
innovative stowable folding landing net, went to the three teams just
finishing out of the money. They include Richard Ness and Phil Schelhaas
from Ruthton, MN in 12th place; Curtis Rees from Ft. Pierre and Scott Berry
from Rockford, IL in 13th place; and Jennifer Stalley from Pierre, SD and
Gerrick McComsey from Ft. Pierre, SD in 14th place.
Next up on the South Dakota Region is the Lake Thompson Tournament on
Sunday, May 8. For those interested in entering this or any of the remaining
qualifiers, call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at
[email protected].
GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer said, “The South Dakota Region
is shaping up to be an exciting one. The weights were really close today. I
expect more of the same when we hit Lake Thompson, because it is also a
great walleye fishery. I encourage folks to check out all our regions at
http://www.walleyecup.com. There are going to be exciting races in all seven
regions.”
Major national sponsors for the GNWC include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
Outboards, Lowrance Electronics, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, Aqua-VU,
Aqua Innovations, Towtector Shield, VIB”E” Lure Company and
UpNorthOutdoors.com.
Photo: (L to R) Second place, first place and third place teams at the first
tournament on the South Dakota Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup.